


Space Mall Shenanigans

by Kinshula



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith is the real MVP, One-Shot, Space Mall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 22:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinshula/pseuds/Kinshula
Summary: Pidge goes to run errands at the mall only to run into Prince Lotor, and have her carefully planned list of objectives, ruined.





	Space Mall Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> A one-shot to keep the writer's block away.

She had a list.

She had made a list.

That was a level of organization that Pidge rarely worked on. Her mother would be proud. That list included the eight or so food items Hunk needed, Lance’s absurd amount of beauty products, Coran needed new heat capacitors for the Castle engines, Shiro had asked for ‘something nice’ when pressed, and the whole point of the trip was so Pidge could get her computer parts. She had intentions and Keith was off somewhere getting lost. This was going to be great.

Returning to the space mall felt like a foolish maneuver but she figured that as long as she didn’t go fountain diving again, everything’d be square. She wore a hoodie and kept the hood up. Her disguise was impenetrable. She managed to buy Hunk’s needs first at a small interplanetary market that promised to deliver the ingredients to a predetermined location in space where Pidge could pick them up. She got Lance some sort of facial cream and something that might’ve been eyeliner and practiced her shrug in the bathroom mirror for when he complained at her.

On the way to an engineering shop, Pidge stopped at a small stand, run by a disillusioned looking alien with more arms then Pidge had toes. Under the glass display case was tiny little glass statues in various colors. Souvenirs. She eyeballed one with purple swirls and black lines, shaped into something that resembled a star. That counted as 'something nice’ right?

“How much for that one?” Pidge asked, pointing at the bauble.

“Thirty-nine gak,” the alien droned in a dead monotone.

Pidge hissed through her teeth, “hmm, how about thirty?”

“Sure,” The alien blinked but made no other movement. She had no proof he wasn’t in an advanced stage of brain death.

He reached under the table and plucked the purple bauble from it’s seated cushion. He dropped it into a brown bag and placed it on the counter. At that point Pidge noticed another one that was green and shaped like a tree. It appealed to her aesthetics.

“How much for that one?” She asked, pointing at it.

“Fifty gak,” he said.

“Aw,” she said, straightening. Fifty gak was at least one hard drive, if not a holo projector, she couldn’t justify the purchase. “Oh, well, I’ll just take this one then.”

“Have a good day,” he said, as if he hoped he would be dead at the end of his.

Pidge reached out to take the bag, but stopped when her fingers closed around it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him exit the stream of passerbys and walk over. She ducked her head down, hiding her face behind the edge of the hood as she pretended to analyze the case. He walked over beside her, their shoulders only inches apart.

Holy shit, why was he here? Wearing normal clothes too. No armor, his hair pulled into a ponytail. If he hadn’t tried to kill her just last week she would’ve assumed he was any normal civilian. Her side ached where his sword had cut into her ribs, healed, but the scar still there.

“Excuse me,” Lotor said. “I’m looking for Archaeological Digs Emporium, where is that?”

With a single finger the alien pointed and droned, “Take a right, it’s the first shop on your right.”

Pidge and Lotor decided to depart at the same time. Pidge moved away –trying to hide her face– and he moved with her, it was dumb coincidence and shit luck. Lotor collided into her back and the sheer mass difference between them sent her pitching forward. Pidge’s hand reached out to the glass case to catch herself but instead his hand wrapped around her arm and he pulled her back up. She hit his chest, the hood falling from her head as his hands fell on her shoulders to steady her.

“Are you alright?” He asked, she could feel his low voice rumble through his chest

She dropped her chin to her chest, ignored her burning cheeks and said, “Yep, fine, hunky-dory. Good. I um, thanks, uh yep, I’ll just uh, you know, gotta go!”

She began to peel herself away from him but he kept a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. Yes, she could snap his finger if she was feeling venomous but they were in a public sphere and that would make things worst. The thought was tempting though.

“Do I know you?” He asked.

Pidge’s hand came up to scratch at her hairline, conveniently putting it between her face. “Hmm, nope, don’t think so. I’d uh, remember a guy like you.  
“Is that flattery?” Lotor smirked.

“You’ve got a be joking me,” she said, raising her face up to look at him so he could see her scowl. They both paused. Lotor’s hand was still on her shoulder. Pidge’s cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink when she realized her mistake. His eyebrows lifted with recognition. “Haha, shit.”

Pidge’s hand clapped over Lotor’s, pinning it to her shoulder, and she pried his hand off before twisting on his wrist. This bent Lotor’s knees enough that she could kick him hard in the chest to send him sprawling back. She bolted and cut into the crowd, finding the flow of the people then interjecting herself into it. She dove under arms, and jostled shoulders as she ran trying to put as much distance between her and Lotor.

“Hey!”

Pidge’s day got a lot worse when Zethrid stepped out of a weapons shop, a ginormous rifle in her hands, and the alarms of the shop blaring off at her as she accidentally shoplifted said rifle. Pidge darted past her. The rifle went off, the shot echoing through the open halls of the mall and then the slug whizzed past her head. People screamed, dropped to the floor, scattering like grain thrown on the ground.

Pidge took a sharp turn and jumped down an escalator, elbowing a scrawny alien out of the way. It was an up-escalator and she jumped the railing just as Zethrid shot at her again. Pidge landed the jump on bent knees and jarred her elbow as she pusher herself up to keep running. Pidge glanced over her shoulder to the above floor, Acxa had run up to Zethrid and smacked the rifle barrel down.

“What is wrong with you?!” Acxa shouted.

“We’re trying to kill her!” Zethrid said.

Pidge kept running, a full tilted sprint. Only to draw back when Narti walked out into the through-fare her arms full of what looked like a bag of cat food? Narti stopped and turned to face Pidge. Pidge stopped too. Narti dropped the bag of cat food. Pidge did a fancy back pedal that involved tripping over her feet, almost landing on her face, picking herself up, and running in the opposite direction.

Pidge ran in the opposite direction only to see that Zethrid and Acxa were attempting to shove their way down the up-escalator towards her. Pidge had the slightest amount of relief in that Zethrid didn’t have the gun in her arms anymore but that didn’t last long who two hands grabbed Pidge’s arm.

“Hey, it’s you!” Ezor squawked. “You’ve come to play.”

Ezor lifted on Pidge’s arm and into the air. Pidge kicked her legs out but Ezor’s grip was powerful. Pidge hung for a second, glaring at Ezor.

“I got her!” Ezor shouted to Acxa and Zethrid.

“Careful,” Acxa said, pushing past a large alien who stood in her way. “She’s dangerous!”

Pidge reached into her pocket and found the knife she had stashed there. Keith had insisted she keep it on her. It was a small knife, barely a two inch blade. She unsheathed it and jabbed it into Ezor’s arm. Ezor shouted and Pidge dropped to the floor. She ran off again, this time taking the nearest side path into a large garden park area. Large, blooming trees shadowed overhead as she worked her way down a foot path.

Her breath came hard and fast when she finally collapsed on a bench to check her phone. She forced her way into the mall’s criminally insecure security networks. She pulled up a map.

“First, thing first,” Pidge said. “Let’s figure out how to get out of here.

She sent a text to Kieth, informing him as to what was going on and waited for his scathing reply.

Pidge stood-up and started walking, following the map on her phone towards the tram station leading to the lot where she had left her shuttle. Pidge broke into a light jog when she exited the park and peeled off her jacket as she ran. She found the tram station just as Lotor turned the corner on her. She waved to him and then jumped the railing onto the escalator leading down to the station. The tram was pulling in and she sprinted down the steps to squeeze her way through the various aliens that were trying to exit. Pidge started to move up the cars, using her bony elbows to great effect to squeeze her way through.

She watched Lotor and Acxa get on in a car farther down just as the tram pulled out of the station. Pidge went to the very front of the tram, tapping her feet as it began to pick up speed. It shot them through the thin corridor, heavy glass windows revealing the gas giant that the station anchored itself in orbit around. The gas giant was like the marbles that Pidge had looked at earlier. It was too bad that she paid so much for Shiro’s gift and then ended up leaving it.

“Paladin!”

The door to the car pushed open and Acxa strode in, followed by Lotor. Pidge grinned at them, that grin vanished when two hands wrapped around her wrists then pinned them behind her back. Ezor reappeared, her arm wrapped with a bandage but no worse for the ware, based on her big grin.

“Not making that mistake again,” Ezor smirked.

Pidge strained and then relaxed, she sighed, and a crooked grin spread across her face. “I got admit it, the purple jacket and black slacks are doing a lot for you, Lotor.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I do love that necklace.”

“Gee, thanks,” She said. “Okay, you got me, now what?”

“What were you doing here?” Acxa demanded.

“Shopping,” Pidge said. “What were you doing here?”

“I needed socks,” Acxa said quietly.

“Is that a blush?” Pidge asked, gapping at the slight darker purple tinge on Acxa’s cheeks. “Gosh, don’t be embarrassed by that, we all need socks, heck I need socks, the ones I got on have crust they’re so old.”  
“Ew,” Ezor said.

“Are the other paladins here?” Lotor asked.

“Nope,” Pidge said. “Just my lonesome. You know I’m just talking to stall right? I’d like to apologize too because I just lied, it’s me and Kieth. Actually, there he is, hi Kieth! How are you?!”

Lotor and Acxa both turned over their shoulders as Kieth ran into the car, jumped a seat and full armed punched Lotor in the face. A real hook, Lotor’s head whiplashed all the way back, had to have hurt. Pidge took this chance to wrench her hands out of Ezor’s grip, kick in her knee as she dropped, and fish her phone out of her pocket. She pressed the hotkey that she had set-up earlier and the tram came to a screaming halt.

Keith grabbed Pidge by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Together they pried up the front door and jumped out twenty feet to the track below. Pidge rolled to dissipate her momentum and she took off running with Kieth. She turned back briefly, cackling and flashed Lotor –who leaned out the open door cradling a broken nose– an obscene gesture.  
___________________

It was at dinner, three weeks later, that Coran set a small black box in front of Pidge. She looked up at Coran, then at the box, and then at Coran.

“Package for you,” he said. “Came with Hunk’s food supply.”

“It must be for Lance,” Pidge said. “His face stuff.”

“Really?” Lance asked, perking up in his seat.

“Nope, number five,” Coran said. “It’s addressed to the Green Paladin of Voltron from Prince Lotor, actually.”

“From Lotor?” Kieth asked. “I’m not sure we should have that on the ship.

“I already scanned it for materials that can form a tracker or a bomb,” Coran said. “Completely inert!”

“I’m still not sure that we should open it,” Shiro said. “I mean, why would Lotor send Pidge a box?”

“To show how much he cares?” Hunk suggested. “Kind of like 'sorry-I-stabbed-you-the-other-day’? Kinda deal?”  
“That makes no sense, Hunk,” Lance said.

“Well,” Allura said from the head of the table. They all looked at her, “There’s only one way of knowing, it’s here and it’s not dangerous, let’s see what it is.”

“I bet you’re just curious,” Pidge smirked.

“A little bit,” Allura admitted.

As Pidge pried open the box everyone got up and crowded around behind her. If this was a bomb then Lotor had figured out how exactly to destroy his opponents. The box didn’t blow-up, instead Pidge had to rift through several layers of packaging paper before pulling out a small brown bag. She frowned and opened the bag, only to pull out the small purple glass statue she had bought for Shiro.

“Is that it?” Lance asked. “What is it?”

“It’s yours,” Pidge said, looking up at Shiro. “I had bought it for you, but then Lotor ran into me and I left it at the counter at the space mall.”

Shiro took the statue from here and hugged her shoulders with one arm. “Thanks, Pidge.”

“No problem,” Pidge said. “But why did Lotor send it?”

“Hold on,” Lance said. “There’s more in there.”

The suspense was thick as Pidge pulled out the rest of the paper, she held up the next item, “Socks?!”

“Socks,” Keith said. “Why did he get you socks?”

“No wait,” Pidge said, shoving her hand in the box. “There’s something else.”

She pulled out another smaller black box, the size of a ring box. Pidge flicked open the lid and stared at the forest green statue she had passed up. She gaped at it.

“There’s a note,” Coran said, picking a small card that had fallen from the box. “It’s in Galra. 'Acxa got the socks, I hope you like these gifts, Love Lotor.”

A long moment of silence stretched over the table.

“What,” Pidge said.


End file.
